The Dechmont Woods Encounter.

On the 9th November, 1979, Robert Taylor, a Scottish forester parked his truck by the side of the road and walked with his dog up a forest track at Dechmont Law, West Lothian. Shortly after this he saw a flying dome shaped craft hovering above a clearing. He said the craft was a dark metallic sphere with small propellers around the rim and there was also a horrible odor in the area.

Smaller spheres like "sea mines" attempted to drag him to the craft at which point he lost consciousness. When he came to, the crafts were gone. He could not start his truck so walked back to his home. When he got there his wife recalled he was very disheveled and muddy, his clothing was torn and she called the police and a Doctor who treated his wounds. He took the police back to the site of the encounter, and they reported ladder-shaped marks on the ground. They recorded the incident as a criminal assault.

Robert Taylor's account is revered among ufologists and it became the only UFO sighting to be criminally investigated.

Tuamgraney Woods Manifestation - Ireland

On the 31st October and around Halloween generally, some choose to avoid Tuamgraney Woods in County Clare, it is said that the hollow changes into dense woodland from which one can not escape, and within lurk dark creatures with glowing red eyes.

One tale tells of a young man who decided to ignore the warnings, he entered the woods carrying a large stick when soon a feeling of melancholy and fear came over him, the woods quickly became so dense he could not find the footpath to get out again.
Shortly after this, he saw a large black hound in front of him, with glowing red eyes, it glared at him a while before vanishing, this was followed by a hare, usually a passive  animal, but this one was also menacing, when it disappeared a large, hissing cat was seen, he could feel the threat and anger in the beast and he turned to run. However, the trees were so tightly packed, and the ground so uneven that he could not flee, he simply stumbled headlong into the branches. As it started to grow dark, the man appeared in a clearing where he saw an imposing black ram with the same glaring red eyes, and a cowering deer which was clearly near death following an attack. He became emboldened now, and attacked the ram with his stick, his blows went straight through the ghostly beast, but it in turn knocked him to the ground. When he awoke, the woodland had returned to normal, the trees were easy to navigate and the feeling of fear was gone...but he felt the physical pain of the struggle with the ram.

On telling this tale afterwards at home to his family, they said that others too had this experience, and Tuamgraney Woods were definitely best avoided at Halloween.


Sources: www.yourirish.com www.paranormaldatabase.com

The Lost Souls of Aokigahara Forest.

There are few places in the world that conjure up feelings of sorrow, pity, fear, and ultimately fascination as Aokigahara Forest in Japan. Also called the ‘Sea of Trees’, this dense woodland at the base of Mount Fuji has the unfortunate fame of being one of the most well-known places to commit suicide in the world. It is known to be haunted by the ghosts of the hundreds who have died there. 

Aokigahara Forest is the most popular place to commit suicide in the whole of Japan; in fact it is only second to the Golden Gate Bridge in the world. Since records began being taken in the 1950’s, over 500 people have taken their own lives amongst its trees, most by hanging, some by overdoses or other methods. The gruesome trend supposedly began after the publication of Seicho Matsumoto’s novel Kuroi Kaiju (Black Sea of Trees) where two of his characters commit suicide at Aokigahara, however the history of suicide predates this and the forest has had an association with death for a long time. 

Due to the high numbers of incidents, the unenviable task of an annual body search began in 1970, consisting of a small collection of police, volunteers, and a few journalists. These groups follow official and unofficial forest trails as well as going off the beaten track to recover bodies and mark the places with tape – this tape is never removed. They have found over 100 corpses per year in recent times, but who knows how many they never find? The first kilometer in is where most of the bodies are found, and some people are saved from their attempt, but those who are determined tend to walk a long way into the woods. 

These lost souls are said to haunt the forest, which is in itself a very eerie place. The densely packed trees mean that there are parts that are in continual darkness, the light blocked out by the foliage. Due to the closely growing trees there is hardly any wind and an odd absence of wildlife gives the forest a silent, foreboding atmosphere. The ghosts of people who took their own lives are likely to be troubled, unable to rest, and there have been many reports of spooky encounters.  

Due in part to its reputation, the Aokigahara Forest is a popular tourist destination as is Mount Fuji itself. People have talked of the feeling of being watched, followed and taunted by unseen entities as well as hearing sounds which can’t be explained. 

The trend of suicides at Aokigahara doesn’t seem likely to diminish any time soon. The Japanese government has tried to dissuade people by employing officials to position signs, in both Japanese and English, urging those who have gone to the woods in order to commit suicide to seek help, think of their families and not kill themselves. Whether it is due to folklore, the draw of a novel or the fame that precedes it, the lost souls of Aokigahara Forest will most likely continue to grow in number for the foreseeable future.